Stop Bombing Civilians: Email your MP

Humanity & Inclusion is taking the Stop Bombing Civilians campaign to the UK Parliament and we need your support.

For eight years in a row, when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, over 90% of those killed and injured were civilians. This compares to 20% in other areas. In countries like Yemen and Afghanistan the number of civilian casualties continues to rise.

Urgent action is needed to protect civilians - you can take action now by emailing your MP.

Email your MP now

Enter your postcode in the form below to find your MP is and send them a message via writetothem.com.

After submitting your message online you will receive an email from WriteToThemasking you to confirm that you want the email to be sent.

Find your MP

Enter your UK postcode here:

Guidelines

Need some help? Here are some guidelines for how to write an effective message to your MP.

Please be polite and concise when writing to your MP.

It is important that you use your own words. An original letter sent by one passionate constituent is far more powerful than several identical messages. The points below should be used only as a guide - messages that have been copied and pasted will be blocked by the writetothem.com website.

What to include in your message

Introduce yourself as a constituent. Many MPs will only respond to emails from their constituents so you could say what street you live on.

Say that you are writing about Humanity & Inclusion’s Stop Bombing Civilians campaign, which is calling on the UK and all States worldwide to better protect civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Key points to make:

When explosive weapons are used in populated areas over 90% of all the victims are civilians.

The humanitarian consequences of using explosive weapons in populated areas are disastrous. As well as death, injury, and psychological trauma ,some of the other disastrous consequences include the destruction of vital infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and transport links, forced displacement, and a deadly legacy of explosive remnants of war.

Parliamentarians have a vital role to play in enhancing the protection of civilians in armed conflict and supporting efforts both internationally and nationally to stop the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas. The UK government has recognised that there are humanitarian concerns over the use of explosive weapons in populated areas but can and should increase its efforts to protect civilians.

Other statistics you could use (we recommend no more than two points):

Incidents of civilains harm from the use of explosive weapons were recorded in 64 countries. Some of the most impacted countries saw a significant rise in civilian deaths and injuries. These countries included Afghanistan (37%); Yemen (8%); India (21%); and Libya (140%)

In Syria 80% of casualties from the use of explosive weapons were civilians.

In 2018, the organisation Action on Armed Violence recorded 32,102 deaths and injuries from the use of explosive weapons worldwide. Civilians continue to bear the burden of this harm, accounting for 70% (or 22,335) of casualties.

Airstrikes accounted for one third of civilian casualties from explosive weapons.

What MPs can do (please include the first point. We recommend including no more than two points in total):

Ask the government to ensure that the most effective policies and procedures are in place to maximise the protection of civilians.
This should include but is not limited to updating the UK’s Protection of Civilians in Conflict Strategy to include a focus on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

Meet with you at one of your MP's Constituency Surgeries or with you and Humanity & Inclusion in Parliament to discuss the issue and what they can do over the next few months. MPs can contact campaigns.uk@hi.org for more information.